Mallya is down to earth, large-hearted and warm.

Flamboyant is a word which is often used by the media to describe Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, the man behind Kingfisher beer, and the airline of the same name.

Images of him posing with bikini clad calendar models, attending events in the company of Bollywood celebrities, and relaxing on his private yacht, paint a picture of a man who knows how to enjoy the high life.

His penchant for partying fits with his company’s slogan, “The King of the Good Times”, but behind the glamorous veneer, say friends and associates, is a determined businessman, who has worked hard to build recognised brands and businesses recognised not only in India, but around the world.

‘Good times’

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“Appetite for risk and diligence are two key factors which define him as a businessman,” says Nupur Sinh, a journalist and writer who has known Mr Mallya for 12 years.

“VJ has chosen to be known as the King of Good Times: surrounded by gorgeous women, throwing the most fantastic bashes and living the high life,” she says.

“What he doesn’t gloss over or care to show is how he slogs – I have seen staff change shifts but VJ going on full-throttle,” she adds of his attitude towards work.

Mr Mallya is the chairman of the UB group, a company he inherited at the age of 28, after his father’s death in 1993.

He grew up and studied in Kolkata, and completed stints with manufacturing companies in the US and the UK, before working in the family business, learning from his father, Vittal Mallya.

When Vijay Mallya took over the reins he transformed the business and brand, and has a personal net worth of an estimated $1.1bn, according to US business publication Forbes.

Fertilisers

The UB group has a range of interests.

United Breweries makes Kingfisher beer and is India’s largest brewing company, while United Spirits is behind brands such as Whyte and Mackay, McDowell’s and White Mischief.

In 1991, after economic liberalisation, Mr Mallya decided to streamline the company’s interests to areas where it could be globally competitive.

The company also produces fertilisers, and has an engineering plant, amongst other things.

Ms Sinh, who has covered Mr Mallya’s meteoric rise, describes him as a “visionary”.

“Twenty years back he analysed India’s youth demographic and recognised that consumption would come from beer, and put his money and time building Kingfisher,” she says.

Airline closed

It is this foresight which has helped established Mr Mallya as synonymous with the brand itself, she argues.

Mr Mallya is also chairman of Kingfisher airlines, which was at one stage India’s largest airline by passenger numbers, but is now weathering financial troubles, losing on average a million US dollars a day.

At its height the airline was seen as the bastion of quality air travel in India, winning awards and accolades for its service, but in the latter half of 2011 its fortunes began to nosedive.

In September 2011, Mr Mallya shut down the low cost arm of the airline, Kingfisher Red, to stem any further losses.

Some argue one of Mr Mallya’s biggest weaknesses was having too many fingers in too many pies.

Focus

“If Vijay Mallya was the CEO and he devoted his time just to the airline he’d have been the best CEO,” says Capt G R Gopinath.

He is the founder of low-cost carrier Air Deccan, and who sold his airline to Mr Mallya, who rebranded it Kingfisher Red.

“But he never had the time for the airline. If he had focused on it – I don’t think anyone could have done a better job than him,” Capt Gopinath adds.

“He was charming, shrewd and gave everything I wanted for it,” he says, referring to the airline deal.

“But when it comes to business he can get carried away. That’s his undoing”.

Vijay Mallya’s varied hobbies and charisma make him prime fodder for the glossy magazines as well as the business pages.

He owns an IPL cricket team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, breeds race horses, has a stake in a Formula 1 racing team, Force India, and owns two football teams.

He also enjoys spending time on yachts.

Blessed

But varied passions, do not mean he is not a dedicated and hardworking businessman, says Ms Sinh, who says she’s always found Mallya down to earth, large-hearted and warm.

Qualities which have won him affection from his staff.

He is religious, and is said to bless every aircraft he buys at a sacred temple in the Southern Indian city of Tirupati, as well as devoting a large portion of his time to public service.

Mr Mallya is a politician, serving as an independent member of the Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house of representatives.

A father of three, his son Siddarth now works for the family business, and is general manager of United Spirits.

Born in 1978 in the town of Regivada, near Eluru, Andra Pradesh, Satyavolu Rambabu always had a keen interest in art. Unfortunately, due to lack of facilities and encouragement he could not nurture the natural talent that he possessed.

As a child, he used to turn the walls of his house into a canvas and often adorn them with temple drawings. In class VIII, he sat in his first real art class and learned the technical methods of art under the guidance of his guru — Nejuri Israel garu.

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He was greatly inspired by the drawings of ‘Baapu’ that used to appear in newspapers and wanted to develop his skills further. While exploring various forms of art and seeing new methods such as nail drawing and finger painting, he came up with the idea of nose painting 10 years ago. He specialises in making portraits with his nose and says, “It is very difficult to get a painting right when your vision gets blurred. And even a layman can see the tiniest of errors in a portrait. I like the challenge when I’m painting.”

So far, he has made more than 170 paintings with his nose and won the Global World Record in 2011 for this accomplishment. He also won the Rajiv Gandhi National Award in 2005 and the Chitrakalaratna award in 2006 for nose painting.

His work has been displayed across Indian in places like Delhi, Kerala, Gujarat, Lucknow, Kolkata, Kanuku, Vijayawada and Hyderabad.

“As a child, I never had help or support to pursue my interests. Hence, I would like to teach as many as possible and expand the scope of art. I would like to introduce people to this beautiful form of expression,” he says.

Today, he has his own art school called Sadguru School of Arts where he nurtures raw talent and provides help to anyone interested in art.

What’s common between foggy movements of two army battalions, the government auditor’s assessments of large notional losses to the exchequer and a letter from the army chief to the PM on his unit’s preparedness for war? The information in each of these instances in the past six months, was marked ‘secret’ in official files, but screamed its way to the public, forcing the government into damage-control mode.

Leaky Govt Goes in a Daze as Secrets Become Public

Information leaks in governments are nothing new, but they are stinging more now. “They are more frequent and the issues more critical,” says independent journalist Nalini Singh.
“In most cases, an institution of importance has been the target.” The other difference is how the leaks are happening. Politicians and corporates, with their agendas, are prolific generators and feeders of information to a scoop-hungry media, as was revealed in sordid detail in the leaked phone taps of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia in late-2010. The flow of such information is now being shaped by circumstances (infighting in government) and a potent informationgathering weapon (the Right to Information Act).
“The RTI Act and the current Parliament has led to more public debates,” says NK Singh, former finance secretary and a member of the Rajya Sabha. “Overall, it reflects in the lack of effective governance, dynamics of unsettled equations within the government and a weak leadership.”THE CAG FILESCAG draft reports have leaked consistently ever since it started making damning assessments of government entities: for example, its comments on 2G telecom licences, CWG contracts, and RIL’s oil and gas field in KG basin. Ministries Asked to Track Down Leaks
V Narayanswami, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), says in most cases the reports were leaked before the ministry concerned officially reacted to CAG’s claims. “In many cases, there is a substantial difference between the final and draft report, which is lost in the public debate,” he says. Narayanswami adds the government is concerned about the leaks of draft CAG reports and letters to the PM. “We are watching the situation. It is to do with the attitude of people who handle vital information.”
A senior government official says, on condition of anonymity, that the PMO has informally asked ministries to track down leakages at the department level; further, the Lok Sabha speaker and vice-chairman of Rajya Sabha have asked CAG head Vinod Rai – the auditor is accountable to Parliament – to pin accountability and evolve a system to stop the leakage of draft reports. “The government will step in once the House directs it to look into the matter,” he added.INTERNAL AFFAIRSA New Delhi-based media tracker and lobbyist for a large business group says, on condition of anonymity, leaks are acquiring a life of their own because the government is at “war with itself ”. “You don’t need a Dhirubhai (Ambani) versus Nusli Wadia, or the two warring Ambani siblings, to raise a public debate on a secret government document,” he says. “The warring ministers have now replaced them.”
One recent instance in which ministerial differences simmered and spilled on to the media, via managed leaks, was the standoff between the home ministry, headed by P Chidambaram, and the finance ministry, headed by Pranab Mukherjee, on the status and mandate of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The UIDAI’s primary mandate is to give unique identity cards to all Indians. So, it receives its funding from the finance ministry, but its mandate overlaps with that of the National Population Register (NPR), which is housed in the home ministry. The second half of 2011 saw scores of stories on the UIDAI’s functioning and authority, based on letters and file notings leaked from the two ministries.RTI REVELATIONSMore formally, the RTI Act — which can be invoked by any Indian citizen to ask the government for certain information on its functioning — has become a weapon to ferret out information not in the public domain.
For instance, the BJP, the main opposition party, has an RTI cell that operates at both the central and state levels. Headed by Supreme Court lawyer Vijay Garg, its stated objective, in his words, is to “weed out corruption” in high offices. He says officials of the cell not only source information through the RTI route, but also process it to pinpoint stories for the media.
“We were able to bring out the letters written by (former) finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to the PM on the 2G spectrum scam after going through 1,000 pages of information,” says Garg, national convenor of BJP’s RTI cell. In 2011, through an RTI, Garg asked PMO for all communication on 2G licence allocation.
From this, he zeroed in on a finance ministry letter that was “seen” by Mukherjee and which essentially implied that P Chidambaram, the finance minister at the time of licence issuance, could have stopped the spectrum allocation on a first-cum-firstserve basis but did not. This revelation played an important part in the Supreme Court subsequently over-ruling government policy and scrapping the 122 licences handed out in 2008.
Another prolific RTI activist Subhash C Aggarwal claims he was the first to source this information – “20 days before the media made a headline of it” – but it was tucked away inside 500 pages of information. He says he never processes information and shares everything with recipients, be it journalists or civil-society activists.
Aggarwal, a textile trader, says he has no political affiliations in these matters. “My idea is to expose anything that is in public interest,” he says. “I have been approached by political parties, but I believe in remaining independent.” Aggarwal says he has filed about 4,000 applications since the Act was notified in 2005, and that he generates information ideas from conversations with “government insiders who meet him informally”, journalists and ex-government officials.
He has also sourced, among other things, information on land allotments to political parties, the poor attendance records of some cabinet ministers, and audio recordings of meetings of the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill that showed the government subdued civil-society voices.
A senior official in the PMO says many of these activists know what they want and where to find it. As an example, he says, they quote numbers of specific letters and raise questions on them. “The arbitrary way in which information is sought by a single person, with detailed references, only reinforces the suspicion that it is being aided by people within the system,” he says, not wanting to be named. “You could see it as an overdose of transparency,” says former cabinet secretary TSR Subramaniam.CORPORATE CHICANERYWhile this might be the season of political intrigue, it’s corporates who are normally the source of powder kegs of information. Last week, for instance, a Delhi court allowed the prosecution of Reliance Industries and three of its officials under the Official Secrets Act. This matter dates back to October 1998, when CBI team recovered photocopies of four government documents in the office of RIL’s then group president V Balasubramanian; the documents were marked ‘secret’ and were allegedly of interest to RIL.
Most large business groups with interests in allocation of natural resources – for example, oil blocks, coal and limestone mines, telecom spectrum – have full-time employees who act as lobbyists, and public-relations firms, managing the ministry and the media. Lobbyists, typically, spend a few hours every day in the ministry relevant to them. They cultivate relationships, shadow the movement of their files, keep a pulse on the policy drift, track the appointments of the minister and senior bureaucrats, and try to see file notings. On a parallel track, publicrelations firms act as an intermediary between these companies and the media.
Both lobbyists and PR firms tend to have access to ministry documents. When the Ambani brothers wrangled over the supply of gas from the K-G Basin, necessitated by a split of their business interests, an abundance of ministry communication flowed to journalists. “Technology has changed the modus operandi of such leaks,” says former home secretary GK Pillai. Earlier, documents leaks were primarily photocopies. “All you need now is a smart phone,” adds Subramanian. “Documents are scanned and mailed to the targeted recipient in seconds without leaving a trace.”
Subsequently, company lobbyists engage in selective leaks. Typically, the greater the import of an issue for them, the more they invest in it. In one case, the winner of a 4,000 mw ultra-mega power project (UMPP) was disqualified after it emerged that the financial worthiness of the winning bidder was not in line with the project conditions. Though the eventual decision was taken by the government, documents casting doubt on the financial fitness of the winner found their way to the media in copious quantities and may have played a part in the government’s decision to call for a rebid.

It was directed from behind the scenes by vested interests represented by the political class and an arms lobby that are feeling restricted under an honest general

It is a sad commentary on the media when a leading newspaper carries a full front- page report, signed by its editor- in- chief, to push through a complete lie. The newspaper committed an act of treason with dangerous ramifications in claiming that the Army had moved its troops into Delhi with the aim of effecting a coup. Of course glib innuendoes were used instead of direct words, but readers were left in complete shock as a mainline newspaper not yet accepted as a rag sheet sought to inform them of a possible coup that had failed.

The story was farcical and one wondered how journalists of some caliber had lent their name to what could only be described as a mischievous act intended to strike alarm bells across the country, and polarize opinion against the Army and its Chief General VK Singh. What is worse is that the editor stuck to his story the next day, instead of withdrawing and abjectly apologizing. Unfortunately there is little ethics left in the media and no institutions within that could have taken the newspaper and the journalists to task, and ordered not just an apology but some level of punitive action to ensure accountability. The watch- dog has started to bite the people it is supposed to watch out for, and when that happens steps have to be taken to bring in the accountability that once was in- built into the profession.

The question that needs to be answered is why did the newspaper write what it did? At whose behest, with what intention? The bylines were of seasoned journalists who know the ropes and clearly gave their names to a concocted and totally false story with a purpose. What was that purpose? To understand this it is essential to look at the kind of reaction that was generated, and the only reason it did not spread was because of the genuine outcry from the more sensible sections of society.

The intention was to use the little remaining credibility of journalism to cash in on the general ignorance about the Indian Army amongst the civilians, and convince them, or at least set in serious doubts, about the intentions of the Indian Army under the stewardship of General VK Singh. The argument woven into the story was: an independent General is dangerous for the nation while a Chief ( Lt GeneralBikram Singh) appointed by the political establishment will remain under control which is absolutely necessary if India is to be saved from a coup.

Absurd and ridiculous! And clearly an indication of how intolerant and insecure the political establishment has become. Everyone knows that the story was directed from behind the scenes by vested interests represented by sections of the political class, a deeply interested bureaucracy, and of course arms lobbies that are feeling restricted under an honest general. Several names are known, but then good journalism does not allow stories to be written without proof and sufficient documentation so remain in the realm of ‘gossip’even while being closer to the truth than the fabrication that appeared in the said newspaper.

A line of succession in the Indian Army has been determined by the government in the process to control what and where the Army goes. The argument being floated is that the government wants a pliable Chief who can give teeth to its political requirements, such as withdrawal of troops from the Siachen glacier and withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. This has not happened even under pliant Army Chiefs like Generals JJ Singh and Deepak Kapoor, and even the Chief- designate Lt General Bikram Singh might find it difficult to take a decision without becoming totally unpopular amongst the men he aspires to lead. Besides it is well known that these decisions have to be political, and once taken, the Army will have no choice in India but to follow the political will. The current shenanigans hitting at the defence service will in no way give a weak government the political spine to act on issues that are essentially a matter of governance, and clearly the reasons lie elsewhere.

The Indian Army Chief can at best control defence and defence procurements.

And it is well known that despite any other shortcomings General Singh has a reputation for honesty and integrity. In an increasingly compromised world where the corrupt political and business class feels more comfortable with persons they can control and manipulate through commissions and bribes, an officer unwilling to become part of the ” system” is seen as an obstacle, or even a threat. In the Defence establishment, General Singh and Defence MinisterAK Antony are sitting over a burgeoning budget, and that makes them vital to the interests of the strong and influential arms lobby that has penetrated the corridors of power. At the same time Antony is averse to open corruption, and refuses to sign on the dotted line at the slightest whiff of controversy. This makes him a liability in the political/ business establishment of today, and clearly there are many who would like to see him go. Along with a general who has been taking an independent line too, and is not vulnerable to bribes and commissions unlike some in the past.

The result is that one of the last remaining institutions is being beaten down by the system. The UPA government has certainly not covered itself in glory when it comes to maintaining institutions, with senior ministers being fielded to attack any and every institution that comes in the governments way and tries to hold it accountable. The Chief Election Commissioner was attacked at different levels during the Assembly polls; the Chief Auditor General has been castigated severely for his free and independent audits that have exposed the corruption in different government departments; the judiciary has been attacked for independent judgments curtailing the powers of the political class on occasion; Parliament has been misinformed and often manipulated with the cash- for- vote scam still biting into memory; the media is purchased or threatened or both into taking positions supporting the political class with proprietors often being made to sack editors with increasing frequency… In short, the institutions that hold up a democracy, and ensure its health and vibrancy are being whittled away as powerful cabals work to set up a pliant system, without checks and balances, so that their avarice need respect no limits.

What can one say about a political/ bureaucratic system that spends days and months in attacking an individual like the Army Chief, and not even seconds in curtailing the corruption that is eating rapidly into the foundations of Indian democracy? FRANKLY SPEAKING SEEMA MUSTAFA

The success of Zee News, the nation’s most trusted news channel, has once more been acknowledged by the Limca Book of Records 2011-12. After its environmental campaign ‘My Earth My Duty’ was listed, the channel will find mention for organizing and executing India’s largest voter awareness campaign ‘Aapka Vote Aapki Taaqat’.

Addressing the issue of decreasing voter percentage as a part of its responsibility as the fourth estate, Zee News rolled out the campaign to sensitize voters about the importance of voting to ensure a responsive, accountable and democratically elected government.

Launched during the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 with exclusive support from the Election Commission of India, the initiative registered phenomenal success. The drive continued to make waves in the Assembly elections of Maharashtra, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar & West Bengal, and the recent 2012 Assembly elections. Consequently, the public service campaign is acknowledged as one of India’s biggest and most credible voter awareness drives.

In an attempt to reach the grassroots of India, given the different cultures and lifestyles, Zee News left no stone unturned. The message was spread not just on TV, but also on Radio, Internet, Mobiles and other conventional mediums covering more than hundred cities and villages. To ensure wider & maximum possible reach, Zee News also brought together various reputed media organizations with just one objective in mind – to turn the world’s biggest democracy into a force to reckon with.

From his lofty ivory tower, Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju has a 360-degree view of India – and it’s plain from his every pronouncement that he doesn’t like what he sees. Long after he retired as Supreme Court judge, the man continues to sit in judgement on virtually every aspect of humanity and its many failings. And he has been unabashed about pronouncing his verdict on every subject under the sun, typically with a sneer.

Today, Katju has fleshed out one of his earlier comments in which he said that 90 percent of Indians are fools. In an editorial page contribution in The Indian Express, Katju reiterates the point, and offers it as

“the unpleasant truth” he insists on telling us. And to validate his point, he is even rewriting the scriptures.

The shastras, he says, tells us not to speak the “unpleasant truth”. But “I wish to rectify this. The country’s situation today require that we…. ‘speak the unpleasant truth’’.”

And what is that truth? That 90 percent of Indians are fools.

To establish his case, Katju points out that

“the minds of 90 percent of Indians are full of casteism, communalism, superstition.” In elections, 90 percent of people vote on the basis of caste or community, not the merits of the candidate – which accounts for why dacoits like Phoolan Devi were elected to Parliament.

Second, Katju claims, 90 percent of Indians believe in astrology, “which is pure superstition and humbug”. Which is why television channels that beam programmes on astrology have high viewership ratings.

Katju then picks on another of his pet peeves: the Indian media’s obsession with cricket and Bollywood. The game, he says,

“has been turned into a religion by our corporatised media, and most people lap it up like opium.” Rahul Dravid’s retirement is treated like a national calamity, and Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th century as if it were a great achievement for India.

In the process, India’s real problems that affect 80 percent of the people – mass deprivation, unemployment, and a whole lot more – are ignored, he points out.

And then, there’s the Anna Hazare movement for a Jan Lokpal to combat corruption. Katju likens the movement’s followers to a lynch mob – and blames the media for playing it up.

Katju writes:

“It is time for Indians to wake up to all this. When I called 90 per cent of them fools my intention was not to harm them, rather it was just the contrary. I want to see Indians prosper, I want poverty and unemployment abolished…”

But for that to happen, he reasons, Indians should cultivate a “scientific outlook”; until that happens, “the vast majority of our people will continue to be taken for a ride.”